MARTHA Plimpton is one of those actors to whom the question ''Where are they now?'' has never applied.

Too young to be a Hollywood ''legend'' and too experienced to be a starlet, it's as if she's been on screens - big and small - forever.

Speaking with Green Guide from Los Angeles, Plimpton says: ''I grew up with my mother [actress Shelley Plimpton] in New York so I spent a lot of time in theatres watching performances - I guess it got into my blood.''

The 41-year-old has been working in theatre, television and film since she was 14 and has amassed a remarkable body of work. Her resume includes The Goonies (1995), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Running on Empty (1988), Parenthood (1989) and Small Town Murder Songs (2010).

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Before she agreed to play Virginia Chance in Channel Eleven's Raising Hope, Plimpton - who is also an accomplished singer - spent a decade working on Broadway and has appeared in a pantheon of series during the past decade, including ER, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Medium and The Good Wife.

Plimpton laughs when it's suggested to her that she has rarely been out of work in the past 20 years.

''I've been through some significant dry spells,'' she says. ''That's the name of the game. There were very challenging times for me when I was terrified about never getting the next job. Sometimes I really doubted my ability. I've come inches away from having to get a civilian job, but then a gig has turned up and saved the day. I'm so grateful.''

In the recent batch of quality sitcoms - think Modern Family, 30 Rock, Bored to Death and Parks and Recreation -Raising Hope stands out because of its honed scripting, which is packed with irreverent gags sold by flawed characters with good intentions.

Now in its second season, the show revolves around the challenges the low-income Chance family face while trying to raise Hope (Rylie Cregut), their unexpected grandchild who was the result of their son's brief encounter with a serial killer - who then wound up on death row.

''She's legendary for a reason. There's nothing she won't do for a laugh, which is so inspiring, but there's a tradeoff,'' Plimpton says laughing. ''She's totally out of her mind. But she's so sharp and energetic - she's really, really cool.''

In each 22-minute episode, viewers get moments that veer from touching, searing to astute and disturbingly frank; it's a difficult balance to get right. Plimpton credits the show's writer and creator Greg Garcia, who also created the similarly dark My Name Is Earl, with doing just that.

''His sense of humour is dark and raw but he has the added benefit of also being a distinctly authentic human being - and that's rare in Hollywood,'' she says. ''To me, he is the heart of why our show has heart. He gets away with being a tiny bit corny because he's fearless. He doesn't care what people think of him and I admire that quality. I wish I had it myself.''

Plimpton clicked with her character, the hard-bitten Virginia, immediately. ''When I read the pilot script, I laughed out loud and I just knew this was a woman I could play for a few years and not get bored.''

When it comes to choosing a role, Plimpton says strategy has little do with it; it's all instinct. ''I'm not ambitious,'' she says. ''So when I'm doing the job, I want it to be as good as possible. I want the director to love it and an audience to appreciate it. On a macro level, I don't have any 10-year plan, it doesn't work for me. I can't be rigid in my thinking. I have to be open to trying new things.''

With the show recently renewed for a third season, there's one word that keeps popping up in the interview - ''grateful'', to be working full-time and with actors, writers and a crew Plimpton admires.

''It would be a dream if we ended up having to find ways to pay for Hope to go to college, but I don't know of a sitcom that got to run for more than 18 years, but that would be amazing. This is a show about family, and there isn't a normal family on earth, so who knows how far it might go.''